Judge: Drug abuse cases are turning courts into emergency rooms

On Wednesday, a state Senate committee working to find better treatment options for addicts heard grim stories from court officials and drug treatment specialists. In 2012, the district courts in Quincy, Brockton and Plymouth ranked first, third and fourth in the state in the number of referrals for involuntary commitments to drug-abuse treatment centers.

BOSTON – In 2012, the district courts in Quincy, Brockton and Plymouth ranked first, third and fourth in the state in the number of referrals for involuntary commitments to drug-abuse treatment centers.

Quincy District Court court topped Boston’s eight courts with 464 such referrals. Boston saw 313, Brockton saw 186 and Plymouth saw 163 in the same period, a state public health department report says.

On Wednesday, a Senate committee working to find better treatment options for addicts heard grim stories from court officials and drug treatment specialists.

“(I see) kids that are terribly bright, but they’re not going to make it,” Plymouth District Court Judge Rosemary Minehan said in an interview after she told the committee that 3,000 of 7,000 urine samples in Plymouth tested positive for opiates in a recent year.

The hearing was the first meeting of the six-member Senate Special Committee on Drug Abuse and Treatment Options, organized by Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth.

Minehan said judges sometimes see defendants in such bad shape that medical personnel have to be called in to help.

“We’ve turned into a sort of emergency room, only there are no doctors and nurses,” she said. “Social workers can’t do their evaluations. ...People are deteriorating right before our eyes, so we’re calling emergency numbers. We’re hitting 911 at the courthouse.”

The involuntary commitments are intended to help addicts get treatment at specialized facilities – one for women in New Bedford and one for men in Brockton. Patients stay for an average of 30 days.

But the committee heard that these facilities have limited space, forcing the overflow to jails and prisons.

“The number of commitments have continued to increase,” said Hillary Jacobs, the director of the public health department's Bureau of Substance Abuse Services.

Jacobs said Gov. Deval Patrick is seeking to expand the number of treatment facilities available across the state in his recent budget proposal.

After the hearing, committee member Sen. John F. Keenan, D-Quincy, suggested that proximity to Boston and Interstate 95, a major drug-trafficking artery, is one possible reason for the South Shore’s high incidence of drug use.

“It’s important to get an understanding of what the reason is, and that will lead you to prevention.” Keenan said.